Interested to know more about a chef who's tagline is "Crafting the future of food", I set out to explore Matthew Kenney's newest restaurant, Plant Food and Wine with my colleagues from the World Food Travel Association, President, Erik Wolf and Gary Grant.

The Concept:The restaurant introduces nutritious plant-based food based on Southern Californian fresh produce. Raw, organic and fresh are taken seriously and sourcing is key. There's even an urban garden onsite for edible flowers and herbs. Modern and classic cooking techniques are combined with aesthetics to create plant-based dishes that are fresh, delicious, healthy and visually appealing.

“Our goal is to create a space where we can share our expertise of the most nutritious and absolutely beautiful cuisine with locals and visitors,” says Founder Matthew Kenney.

The restaurant space is clean and sleek with seating for 65 guests indoors and outdoors. With the sunny California weather, our party enjoyed our garden courtyard seating where there were olive trees providing a natural setting with a Mediterranean vibe.

The lunch menu was organized into snacks, cheeses, lunch and desserts and small and large plates. Our table ordered sun dried olives with pistachios and citrus segments (so yummy!) and a selection of "cheeses" that were made from cashews, macadamia nuts. Eric asked the manager about water conservancy and the amount it takes to grow an almond and we found Shaun to be a font of knowledge. The amount of water to grow an almond is incomparable to the amount of water needed for meat production. Great point. We all had different items for lunch and I opted for a more Sunday brunch-y version of French toast with berries and frothy almond milk that hit the spot.

Zucchini tagliatelle with sweet corn and sunflower seed romesco and Haas avocado paired with watermelon radish and risotto with summer peas and watercress were on the lunch menu. Clorella olive oil cake served with fig gelato is the perfect finish and banana split with goji, hemp and maca illustrate the creativity in these menu.

What I find to be of particular interest is touring the newest location of Matthew Kenney Culinary Academy located above the restaurant. Food & Wine Magazine recognized this academy as one of the world’s best cooking classes for its personalized, small class, hands on instruction emphasizing whole, organic, unprocessed, plant-based foods to achieve healthy, aesthetically refined and flavorful cuisine.

Plant Food and Wine is located at 1009 Abbot Kinney Blvd, in Venice CA. More information can be found online at PlantFoodandWine.com.

About Matthew KenneyMatthew Kenney is the world’s leading raw food chef, the writer of several best-selling cookbooks, a culinary educator, speaker, and an entrepreneur specializing in the plant-based lifestyle. He has authored 12 cookbooks, including his memoir Cooked Raw: How One Celebrity Chef Risked Everything to Change the Way We Eat, released in January, 2015. Kenney was honored with a James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef nomination, receiving much acclaim. Kenney is involved in raw food and plant-based projects around the world, and travels extensively to forward his mission to show others that food can be delicious and vibrant, while still healthful.